The first test of the new Lurie Administration—and the new Board of Supes—started Tuesday, when the mayor introduced to the Board of Supes a package of legislation that he’s calling a “fentanyl emergency.”
It’s not actually emergency legislation, which as Joe Eskenazi at MissionLocal points out, would not stand up to legal scrutiny. It’s a set of bills that would allow the mayor to issue contracts and raise money from private donors without the supes approval. From the mayor’s press release:
First, it will unlock both previously allocated funding and new private and philanthropic funding. This action will allow department heads to prioritize initiatives related to drug use and homelessness, while bringing in much-needed resources specifically tied to these issues. Second, it will support faster, targeted hiring so departments can prioritize the most important roles and fill them quickly. Finally, it will accelerate the city’s process for partnering with nonprofits to provide core behavioral health services and address street conditions, through streamlined contracting processes and a time-bound 45-day process for Board of Supervisors action on larger contracts.
Interesting that he’s talking about faster hiring, since he just imposed a hiring freeze for everyone except public safety.
In essence, Lurie wants the equivalent of emergency powers, without the official declaration of emergency.
He’s also called on the board to approve the package on an expedited basis.
That doesn’t mean it’s going through without the normal process, Board President Rafael Mandelman told me. Mandelman is going to assign it to a committee, which will schedule and hold a hearing on it. That might be the Rules Committee or the Budget Committee—and since Mandelman doesn’t expect to make new committee assignments until early next week, the package likely won’t start its way through the process before the last week in January or the first week in February.
The bills came up at the Tuesday board meeting during roll call, which is typically when supervisors announce their own proposals. Sup. Matt Dorsey announced his support for the package, which most of the supes haven’t seen yet, and so did Sup. Stephen Sherrill and Sup. Bilal Mahmood.
That’s already unusual: I can’t remember the last time that several supes announced their support for a bill during roll call. It suggests that they are already on board without listening to any testimony or asking any questions about what is a fairly complex legislative package.
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Sup. Shamann Walton told me he has some serious concerns about the legislation.
“He’s asking us to waive behested payments, the approval of contracts, and typically we would get a plan; we want to secure 1,500 beds, we want to do this and that, and here’s the package that will let us do it. But he didn’t tell us what he’s going to do with these powers. There isn’t a plan.”
Walton said he wanted to have further conversations about the package.
The press release lists four co-sponsors, Dorsey, Sherrill, Mahmood, and Sup. Joel Engardio. Mandelman told me that he’s inclined to vote for it with some changes; instead of the supes giving up approval authority, he said, the mayor should ask for a clear timeline for approvals that often drag out for months. If new D3 Sup. Danny Sauter goes along, that would be six votes.
It would also show that the new board is going to support the mayor’s public safety agenda, even when it makes little sense and isn’t backed up by a clear plan.
The hearings, and the vote, will set the tone for the next two years of City Hall politics.
